Extended Quadratic Funding for Open Source Projects

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Seira Yun

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

6

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

Extended quadratic funding combines modest contributions from individuals who have done good deeds with larger matching sums. This approach promotes fair and inclusive funding for public goods.  

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

Our project is proudly open source, licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPLv3). This license allows others to freely use, modify, and distribute our code, under the condition that any derivative work will also be open source under the GPLv3. This fosters collaboration and community-driven development, as it encourages other developers to contribute to our project, or to use our code as a starting point for their own projects, thus driving innovation in the sector.

By making our project open source, we aim to contribute to the global movement of shared knowledge and collaborative problem solving. This approach ensures transparency, promotes the sharing of knowledge, and encourages a collective approach to addressing the challenges associated with the impact job sector. Ultimately, we believe that open-sourcing our project will lead to a more robust, efficient, and impactful solution, thanks to the contributions of the global developer community.

[METADATA] SDG rating

Our project aims to contribute significantly to various United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thereby enhancing its global relevance and impact.

1. SDG 1: No Poverty - Our approach of Extended Quadratic Funding champions inclusive funding for public goods, emphasizing those contributors who have had significant social and environmental impact. This approach is in direct alignment with efforts to alleviate poverty.
2. Sub Goal 1.A: Our project is dedicated to mobilizing resources from diverse sources to ensure that developing countries, in particular, can adequately and predictably implement programs and policies aimed at eradicating poverty.
3. KPI: We will measure our success by the number of underrepresented open-source projects that are able to receive support through our platform.
4. SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth - Our project encourages sustainable economic growth by fostering a circular economy. We're committed to promoting entrepreneurship and job creation, particularly in the open-source project realm.
5. Sub Goal 8.3: We're steadfast in our dedication to promote policies that support productive activities, job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation, along with the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises.
6. KPI: The success of our efforts can be gauged by the number of open-source projects funded and jobs created through these initiatives.
7. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities - Our project is designed to reduce inequality both within and among countries by distributing funds more equitably and improving representation in crowdfunding.
8. Sub Goal 10.2: By 2030, we aim to empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of any discriminatory factors.
9. KPI: We'll track the change in diversity and representation in crowdfunding following the implementation of our Extended Quadratic Funding method.
10. SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions - Our commitment to transparency and decentralization in decision-making fosters the development of effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions.
11. Sub Goal 16.6: We're working towards the development of effective, accountable, and transparent institutions at all levels.
12. KPI: We will assess the degree of transparency and decentralization in our crowdfunding platform's decision-making process.

By incorporating these SDGs, sub-goals, and KPIs into our project, we strive to align ourselves with globally recognized objectives for sustainable development and demonstrate our potential to contribute towards these goals. We believe that our clear measures for tracking progress and success will enable us to continually refine and improve our initiative.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

Existing crowdfunding platforms have been criticized for being biased towards wealthy individuals, leading to a lack of representation and diversity of projects. This has made it difficult for small, underrepresented open-source projects to receive support. Therefore, we propose a new approach called extended quadratic crowdfunding. This approach “extends” or improves upon quadratic funding schemes.

Quadratic funding combines small individual contributions with larger matching sums. This means that contributions made by more people will be matched more generously than contributions made by fewer people. For example, the quadratic formula would give the project with 10 donations of $10 each more matching funds because it has more favored donors than the project with 1 donation of $100 each.

For more information about quadratic funding, visit https://arxiv.org/pdf/1809.06421.pdf.

So, what is Extended Quadratic Funding? It's an improvement on Quadratic Funding that adds another layer: the "impact score" of individuals. Socious' Impact Score indicates how much an individual has contributed to social and environmental impact. You can find more information about Impact Score here: https://www.notion.so/socious/Socious-Whitepaper-58fbe2c106f547898df42e409a00c73e?pvs=4#27759763f0d941788af336561a40d8d7.

Extended Quadratic Funding takes into account the contributor's impact score, making the system more equitable. This means that people who have made contributions to improve the world can have more voting power than wealthy individuals. The goal is to create a more decentralized and fair system that promotes inclusive funding for public goods.* By allowing individuals who may not have large sums of money to participate in the funding process, we can increase diversity and enhance the representation of all voices. This, in turn, may lead to a more equitable distribution of funds and an increase in support for public goods.

The decision-making process on extended quadratic crowdfunding platforms is decentralized and transparent. This can help to build trust among users and ensure that decisions are made in the best interests of the community as a whole.

Our long-term goal is to create a circular economy that sustainably produces public goods in perpetuity. In this system, funded projects produce verified outcomes (or impact), which are verified by the Impact Genome Registry. These outcomes are then sold on OutcomesX, a marketplace for social outcomes. For example, UBS Optimus purchased USD 2 million worth of verified outcomes related to improved education and mental health outcomes produced by 21 different organizations.

In the "Extended Quadratic Funding" project, all funded projects' social outcomes will be verified by the Impact Genome Registry. The verified outcomes will then be sold on OutcomesX, and the proceeds of these sales will go towards the matching pool for the next round of crowdfunding. Additionally, since the efficiency of projects to produce social outcomes is verified, funding is optimally allocated in the next round to projects that are best suited to deliver social outcomes. Our impact score also takes into account social outcomes, so those who create more verified outcomes have more voting power. This system creates a virtuous circle in which the funding pool is constantly replenished and optimally allocated where it's needed.

In summary, the proposal of Extended Quadratic Funding seeks to remedy the biases and underrepresentation prevalent in existing crowdfunding platforms. This approach builds upon the concept of Quadratic Funding, which uses a combination of small individual contributions and larger matched sums. The extension lies in the integration of an "Impact Score", an assessment of an individual's contribution to social and environmental causes. This means individuals with significant social contributions have more voting power than merely wealthy patrons, creating a more equitable system. Furthermore, the decision-making process is decentralized and transparent, encouraging trust and community-centric decisions. The overarching objective is to create a sustainable, circular economy of public goods. Projects funded through this method produce verified outcomes, confirmed by the Impact Genome Registry and sold on OutcomesX, a marketplace for social outcomes. The income from these sales then replenishes the funding pool, which, along with the Impact Score, guides the allocation of funds in subsequent rounds, thus creating a self-sustaining cycle of public good generation. we believe that this system attracts more people to build open-source projects in the Cardano ecosystem.

*In economics, public goods are commodities or services that are provided to all members of a society, either by the government or by a private individual or organization. Examples of public goods include clean air, public parks, street lighting, and public infrastructure like roads and bridges. In the context of this proposal, public goods could also include open-source projects and other initiatives that generate social or environmental benefits.

References:

1. Mankiw, N. Gregory. Principles of Economics, 8th Edition. Cengage Learning, 2017.
2. Samuelson, Paul A. "The Pure Theory of Public Expenditure". Review of Economics and Statistics (The MIT Press) 36 (4): 387–389, 1954.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community.

How the Project Brings Value to the Cardano Community:

• Fostering Equity in Funding: By prioritizing a fair and equitable funding model, the Extended Quadratic Funding scheme directly benefits the Cardano community. It ensures that smaller, underrepresented open source projects receive the support they need. This approach not only diversifies the types of projects on the platform but also encourages a broader range of developers to engage with Cardano.
• Enhancing Developer Engagement: The incentive structures integrated into the funding scheme are designed to attract developers from outside the Cardano community. This increases the number and diversity of developers and projects on the Cardano platform.
• Promoting Collaboration: The funding model encourages collaboration among community members. By design, it incentivizes collective support for projects, fostering a more interconnected and collaborative community.

Measuring the Impact:

In the future when the project is deployed to production, quantitative metrics will include the number of projects funded through the scheme, the increase in developers building on Cardano, and the diversity of projects and developers engaged. However, for this concept phase, we will focus on the number of positive feedback we receive on our concept and design from user research interviewees.

Sharing Outputs and Opportunities:

We will share the outputs and opportunities of our project through the following methods:

• During and after the completion of the project, we plan to spread its outputs. This will include providing monthly and milestone reports, as well as regular town hall meetings.
• We will share information about the project's outputs, impact, and opportunities with community members. The close-out report and video will be publicly available on YouTube. Additionally, we will share updates on our website and social media platforms. Work opportunities for Cardano developers will be listed on our Socious platform, which is a talent marketplace.
• Since Socious is an open-source project, our design is publicly available on Figma. Cardano designers are encouraged to use it for other projects.
• We will also engage with the community through community forums and social media platforms, providing regular updates and insights.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Our team is aptly suited and equipped to successfully deliver this project. We possess the requisite capabilities that uniquely position us to execute this project to high standards of trust and accountability.

Socious is a fast-growing impact startup that provides a talent marketplace, making impact work accessible and transparent. We connect purpose-driven professionals with impact organizations through AI matching. We use blockchain to trace impact work and reward contributions.

Socious is supported by 500Global, Microsoft, and Milkomeda Foundation. Our platform lists over 80k jobs, 24k organizations, and has 6.6k registered users. Our team consists of experts in impact measurement, finance, data science, and blockchain development.

Socious has extensive experience in the Cardano ecosystem, having successfully completed five Catalyst-funded projects in Fund 9 and two ongoing projects in Fund 10.

Our team members include:

• Seira Yun

Title: Founder and CEO

Role: Product Ownership, Project Management, Research

Commitment: Full-time

Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/seirayun/

Bio: Seira Yun is the Founder and CEO of Socious.io, a talent marketplace that makes impact work accessible and transparent. Socious connects purpose-driven professionals with impact organizations through AI matching, and uses blockchain to trace impact work and reward contributions.

Seira is a serial impact entrepreneur with years of experience in the sector. He has led teams within the ICRC, UNHCR, and social ventures. Drawing from personal experiences as a migrant, an autistic person, and a proud pansexual queer, Seira is driven to make the world a better place through social innovation. As a full-stack developer with a Master's in Social Innovation from the University of Cambridge, he enjoys blending technology with purpose. Seira is also an impact angel investor, a member of Hustle Fund's Angel Squad, and a mentor for 4WARD.VC's Climate Accelerator. When not working, he enjoys shooting hoops, running, reading, spending quality time with the kids, or embracing the adventure of getting lost during travels. He is also a long-term member of the Cardano community; he’s won and managed five Catalyst projects and has completed Atala PRISM Pioneer Program.

• Minh Douangprachanh

Title: Lead Designer

Role: Design

Commitment: Full-time

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michel-douang/

Bio: With more than a decade of experience specializing in product design, Minh is a multidisciplinary artist who has always believed art has a language of its own. As a neurodiverse individual, Minh is passionate about helping people and creating sustainable and inclusive solutions.

• Ehsan Mahmoudi

Title: Lead Developer

Role: Backend/Blockchain/AI Engineering

Commitment: Full-time

LinkedIn:

https://linkedin.com/in/ehsan-mahmoudi-611123b8/

Bio: More than 8 years of experience in Python and Machine Learning as well as extensive experience in blockchain development. Ehsan has worked for global startups including Rechat, AEC, and Navaak.

• Iman Rezasefat

Title: Senior Frontend Developer

Role: Frontend Development

Commitment: Full-time

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iman-rezasefat-001988121/

Bio: An experienced frontend developer with 7+ years of experience.

• Marjan Arami

Title: Senior Frontend Developer

Role: Frontend Development

Commitment: Full-time

Bio: An experienced frontend developer with 10+ years of experience.

• Azin Zare

Title: QA Engineer

Role: Quality Assurance

Commitment: Full-time

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/azin-zare-355a27179/

Bio: An experienced QA engineer with 9+ years of experience.

• Madi Lommen

Title: Advisor

Role: Project Management, Research

Commitment: Part-time

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/madi-lommen-394940b0/

Bio: Madi has 10+ years experience in social entrepreneurship, impact investing, and partnership building. Madi is passionate about interdisciplinary learning / problem-solving that leverages entrepreneurship and multilingual teamwork for community development. In recent years, she founded Madibanani Co. to champion refugee youth, designed a data collection program on the Jordan-Syrian border, and coordinated military-like training for Emergency & Disaster volunteers of La Cruz Roja (Red Cross) in Ecuador. After completing a thesis on medieval Arabic poetry at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, she worked with a network of angel investors scaling women-led SMEs tackling poverty in Southeast Asia. She has experience working in four languages (English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese) and has lived in Singapore, Jordan, Ecuador, the UK, South Africa, the USA, and Japan.

• Raphael Hode

Title: Design Advisor

Role Design Direction

Commitment: Part-time

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelhode/

Bio: Raphael is a Strategic Designer with a passion for social innovation and sustainability. After a few years in advertising agencies in Paris, Raphael moved to Tokyo in 2015 and joined Designit, a global strategic design firm. At Designit Raphael worked on growing a team and helping some of Japan’s most ambitious companies make innovation happen, leading him to endorse a variety of roles across UX design, service design, business design, and strategy.

In parallel, he has been passionately engaging in activities related to sustainability and social innovation: giving talks and workshops, mentoring early-stage social founders, and eventually co-founding a social venture. Today, he spends most of his time working with incredible social entrepreneurs to help them define, design, and launch visionary products that contribute to creating a more sustainable society.

To supplement our core team, we maintain a reserve of skilled freelancers, ready to contribute at short notice. Our talent marketplace, Socious, is a hub for over 6,600 individuals, many of whom could potentially assist in this project, if required.

Our ability to deliver is not just theoretical but backed by an impressive track record. We have successfully completed five distinct Catalyst projects funded in Fund 9, all within the projected timelines and budget. These accomplishments bear testament to our capabilities and our commitment to deliver projects as proposed.

The Fund 9 projects we’ve completed are as follows:

1. Recognize Impact through DIDs https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/9/f9-dapps-products-and-integrations/recognize-impact-through-dids
2. Atala Integration with Milkomeda https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/9/f9-dapps-products-and-integrations/atala-integration-with-milkomeda
3. Decentralized Escrow for Remote Job https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/9/f9-developer-ecosystem/decentralized-escrow-for-remote-job
4. Impact lending for the unbanked https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/9/f9-dapps-products-and-integrations/impact-lending-for-the-unbanked
5. Scoring Social/Environmental Impact https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/9/f9-catalyst-natives-x-cardashift-demonstrating-and-monetizing-impact/scoring-socialenvironmental-impact

We’ve also been funded two projects in Fund 10:

1. Work History as Verifiable Credentials https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/102247
2. Decentralized Referral System for DAOs https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/103005

The trustworthiness in our fund management processes is grounded in our serious adherence to legal and financial compliance. Each transaction conducted is meticulously documented with tangible evidence and audited internally for accuracy. To bolster our commitment to financial transparency, we have established collaborations with external accounting firms that assure compliance. Our Japanese entity works with Tatsumi Accounting Firm (https://kessan-online.jp/company), while our Singaporean entity partners with BBCIncorp (https://bbcincorp.com/offshore/accounting-and-auditing).

Additionally, we liaise with an external law firm, Enlighten Law Group (https://www.enlightenlaw.com/), to ensure full legal compliance. This meticulous, multilayered approach to fund management reflects our dedication to maintaining high levels of trust and accountability.

[Project Milestones] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Title: Market and Technical Research

Outputs

Milestone 1 includes the following key activities:

• Conduct a literature review of the issue.
• Perform a market analysis.
• Conduct a competitor analysis.
• Conduct interviews with stakeholders and analyze them (recording dates and timestamps).
• Conduct research on technical aspects of the project.
• Develop a detailed plan of action for the project.
• Draft a technical and market research paper summarizing the findings above.

Acceptance criteria

The market and technical research paper is finalized and published on Notion. It is accessible for community review. The research paper includes the following content:

• Literature review
• Market analysis
• Competitor analysis
• Interviews with stakeholders and their analysis (including dates and timestamps)
• Technical aspects of the project
• Detailed action plans for the project

Evidence of Milestone completion

Community members can access the market and technical research paper on Notion to find the following content:

• Literature review
• Market analysis
• Competitor analysis
• Interviews with stakeholders and their analysis (including dates and timestamps)
• Technical aspects of the project
• Detailed action plans for the project

Expected timeline for the delivery

Month 2

Cost

31,474 ADA

% Completion

32%

Title: UI/UX Research

Outputs

Milestone 2 includes the following key activities:

1. Based on the market and research paper, brainstorm and Ideate
2. Create prototypes for user research
3. Conduct user research using the prototypes
4. Compile and analyse the findings
5. Iterate design and repeat Step 3 and 4.
6. Finalize the UI/UX design
7. Consult with the developers to decide on the technical architecture based on the design

These steps will results in a finalized UI/UX Research Paper.

Acceptance criteria

The UI/UX Research Paper is finalized and published on Notion. It is accessible for community review.

The UI/UX Research paper will include the following:

1. Meeting record of the brainstorming and Ideation sessions
2. Links to user stories on Miro (publicly available)
3. Links to prototypes on Figma (publicly available) - several iterations.
4. Records of user interviews
5. Analyses of the findings from user interviews
6. Finalize the direction of UI/UX design
7. The technical architecture based on the design

Evidence of Milestone completion

Community members can access the UI/UX research paper on Notion (publicly available).

The UI/UX Research paper will include the following:

1. Meeting record of the brainstorming and Ideation sessions
2. Links to user stories on Miro (publicly available)
3. Links to prototypes on Figma (publicly available) - several iterations.
4. Records of user interviews
5. Analyses of the findings from user interviews
6. Finalize the direction of UI/UX design
7. The technical architecture based on the design

Evidence of Milestone completion

Community members can access the UI/UX research paper.

Expected timeline for the delivery

Month 4

Cost

39,053 ADA

% Completion

72%

Title: UI/UX Design

Outputs

Milestone 3 includes the following key activities:

1. Complete the production-ready design in Figma.
2. Film a video walk-through of the design.

These steps will result in a finalized, production-ready UI/UX design in Figma, along with a video walk-through.

The Figma file will be published and made available for community review. Similarly, the video walk-through will be published on YouTube and made available to the community.

Acceptance criteria

The production-ready UI/UX design is finalized, published and is accessible to the community for review.

The design will include the following user stories:

• As a project owner, I can publish my project.
• As a donor, I can connect my crypto wallet and donate assets to a project.
• The donation is matched by the matching pool based on the Extend Quadratic Formula
• As a project owner, I receive the funds (donation + matched amount).

The finalized production-ready design will be handed over to the engineering team. “Production-ready” means that it doesn’t need more work from designers and is ready for the engineering team to turn the design into code.

The video walk-through will be published on YouTube and made available to the community.

Evidence of Milestone completion

The Figma files and the video walk-through are publicly available and community members are able to review them.

The design will include the following user stories:

• As a project owner, I can publish my project.
• As a donor, I can connect my crypto wallet and donate assets to a project.
• The donation is matched by the matching pool based on the Extend Quadratic Formula
• As a project owner, I receive the funds (donation + matched amount).

Expected timeline for the delivery

Month 5

Cost

18,842 ADA

% Completion

91%

Title: Close-out report and close-out video

Outputs

Final Milestone involves the following key activities:

• Draft a project close-out report
• Record a close-out video

These steps will produce the following deliverables:

• a close-out report
• a close-out video

Acceptance criteria

The following items are publicly available for the community to review.

• Project close-out report
• Project close-out video

Evidence of Milestone completion

• Community members can access and review the project close-out report.
• The project close-out video is published on Youtube for the community to review.

Expected timeline for the delivery

Month 6

Cost

8,737 ADA

% Completion

100%

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Socious is a fast-growing impact startup that provides a talent marketplace, making impact work accessible and transparent. We connect purpose-driven professionals with impact organizations through AI matching. We use blockchain to trace impact work and reward contributions.

Socious is supported by 500Global, Microsoft, and Milkomeda Foundation. Our platform lists over 80k jobs, 24k organizations, and has 6.6k registered users. Our team consists of experts in impact measurement, finance, data science, and blockchain development.

Socious has extensive experience in the Cardano ecosystem, having successfully completed five Catalyst-funded projects in Fund 9 and two ongoing projects in Fund 10.

Our team members include:

• Seira Yun

Title: Founder and CEO

Role: Product Ownership, Project Management, Research

Commitment: Full-time

Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/seirayun/

Bio: Seira Yun is the Founder and CEO of Socious.io, a talent marketplace that makes impact work accessible and transparent. Socious connects purpose-driven professionals with impact organizations through AI matching, and uses blockchain to trace impact work and reward contributions.

Seira is a serial impact entrepreneur with years of experience in the sector. He has led teams within the ICRC, UNHCR, and social ventures. Drawing from personal experiences as a migrant, an autistic person, and a proud pansexual queer, Seira is driven to make the world a better place through social innovation. As a full-stack developer with a Master's in Social Innovation from the University of Cambridge, he enjoys blending technology with purpose. Seira is also an impact angel investor, a member of Hustle Fund's Angel Squad, and a mentor for 4WARD.VC's Climate Accelerator. When not working, he enjoys shooting hoops, running, reading, spending quality time with the kids, or embracing the adventure of getting lost during travels. He is also a long-term member of the Cardano community; he’s won and managed five Catalyst projects and has completed Atala PRISM Pioneer Program.

• Minh Douangprachanh

Title: Lead Designer

Role: Design

Commitment: Full-time

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michel-douang/

Bio: With more than a decade of experience specializing in product design, Minh is a multidisciplinary artist who has always believed art has a language of its own. As a neurodiverse individual, Minh is passionate about helping people and creating sustainable and inclusive solutions.

• Ehsan Mahmoudi

Title: Lead Developer

Role: Backend/Blockchain/AI Engineering

Commitment: Full-time

LinkedIn:

https://linkedin.com/in/ehsan-mahmoudi-611123b8/

Bio: More than 8 years of experience in Python and Machine Learning as well as extensive experience in blockchain development. Ehsan has worked for global startups including Rechat, AEC, and Navaak.

• Iman Rezasefat

Title: Senior Frontend Developer

Role: Frontend Development

Commitment: Full-time

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iman-rezasefat-001988121/

Bio: An experienced frontend developer with 7+ years of experience.

• Marjan Arami

Title: Senior Frontend Developer

Role: Frontend Development

Commitment: Full-time

Bio: An experienced frontend developer with 10+ years of experience.

• Azin Zare

Title: QA Engineer

Role: Quality Assurance

Commitment: Full-time

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/azin-zare-355a27179/

Bio: An experienced QA engineer with 9+ years of experience.

• Madi Lommen

Title: Advisor

Role: Project Management, Research

Commitment: Part-time

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/madi-lommen-394940b0/

Bio: Madi has 10+ years experience in social entrepreneurship, impact investing, and partnership building. Madi is passionate about interdisciplinary learning / problem-solving that leverages entrepreneurship and multilingual teamwork for community development. In recent years, she founded Madibanani Co. to champion refugee youth, designed a data collection program on the Jordan-Syrian border, and coordinated military-like training for Emergency & Disaster volunteers of La Cruz Roja (Red Cross) in Ecuador. After completing a thesis on medieval Arabic poetry at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, she worked with a network of angel investors scaling women-led SMEs tackling poverty in Southeast Asia. She has experience working in four languages (English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese) and has lived in Singapore, Jordan, Ecuador, the UK, South Africa, the USA, and Japan.

• Raphael Hode

Title: Design Advisor

Role Design Direction

Commitment: Part-time

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelhode/

Bio: Raphael is a Strategic Designer with a passion for social innovation and sustainability. After a few years in advertising agencies in Paris, Raphael moved to Tokyo in 2015 and joined Designit, a global strategic design firm. At Designit Raphael worked on growing a team and helping some of Japan’s most ambitious companies make innovation happen, leading him to endorse a variety of roles across UX design, service design, business design, and strategy.

In parallel, he has been passionately engaging in activities related to sustainability and social innovation: giving talks and workshops, mentoring early-stage social founders, and eventually co-founding a social venture. Today, he spends most of his time working with incredible social entrepreneurs to help them define, design, and launch visionary products that contribute to creating a more sustainable society.

To supplement our core team, we maintain a reserve of skilled freelancers, ready to contribute at short notice. Our talent marketplace, Socious, is a hub for over 6,600 individuals, many of whom could potentially assist in this project, if required.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Please find below a detailed breakdown of our budget, including the number of people and hours allocated to each task. We have calculated the cost at $40 per person per hour. The base conversion rate for ADA-USD is 0.38.

Executive summary:

Total Cost: 98,105 ADA ($37,280)

Milestone 1: 31,474 ADA ($11,960)

Milestone 2: 39,053 ADA ($14,840)

Milestone 3: 18,842 ADA ($7,160)

Final Milestone: 8,737 ADA ($3,320)

Please find the details of the breakdown here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r5NMwsGfgLtplrLR692HST1XLy-bN_lbGbMJOyKhuvU/edit?usp=sharing

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

To address how the cost of our project represents value for money for the Cardano ecosystem, it's essential to consider several key aspects:

1. Alignment with Cardano's Mission and Community Impact: Our project's focus on fostering equity in funding aligns well with the ethos of the Cardano community. By supporting a diverse range of open-source projects and attracting a wider developer base, our project contributes to the growth and diversification of the Cardano ecosystem. This represents not just monetary value but also strategic value in strengthening the ecosystem's foundation and reach.
2. Cost Efficiency and Budget Justification: We have provided a clear justification for our budget, notably by setting the salaries below the average rates for product designers, developers, and product managers. This approach demonstrates our commitment to cost efficiency while ensuring that our team is fairly compensated. Leveraging our previous experience in project budgeting enhances the credibility of our financial planning.
3. Long-Term Benefits and Measurable Outcomes: Our project promises long-term benefits, such as increasing the number of developers and the diversity of projects within the Cardano community. These are measurable outcomes that can be quantified in the future, offering clear indicators of our project's impact and success. Our approach to sharing outputs and opportunities, including publicly available reports and engagement on social media and community forums, adds transparency and accountability to our project.
4. Reduced Hourly Rates and Budget Transparency: Our decision to budget salaries at $40 per hour, despite the higher average salaries, is a significant factor in demonstrating value for money. The average salaries of product designers ($72 per hour), developers ($68 per hour), and product managers ($65 per hour) are quite high. (See here for more details.)This shows our conscious effort to manage costs effectively while still delivering quality results. The transparency in our budget breakdown, based on previous project experiences, further supports the notion of cost-effectiveness.
5. Potential for Further Ecosystem Growth: The potential of our project to onboard more individuals to the Cardano ecosystem, as evidenced by Socious's past success in onboarding 6,600 individuals, indicates a strong potential for return on investment in terms of ecosystem growth and engagement.

In summary, our project represents value for money for the Cardano ecosystem by aligning with its mission, demonstrating cost-efficiency, providing measurable long-term benefits, maintaining budget transparency, and showing potential for further ecosystem growth. Our approach of setting lower-than-average salaries, relying on past experience for budgeting, and focusing on impactful community engagement further supports this.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agrees to Fund Rules and also that data in the submission form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept